Hélène Farrar is a contemporary American artist who works primarily in encaustic. Her colorful paintings draw themes from both the natural world and her observations of people, and they have a depth and luminousness achieved through careful attention to texture and surface quality. She considers her work part of a conversation about humanity, beauty, and nature. Farrar’s unique style is playful but also serious. "I’m very serious about my silly work," she says. "I take it very seriously."
Hidden secrets in her paintings invite viewers to slow down from their busy lives and engage with the work. "People are always in a rush rush rush," she says. "I want to generate a slowing down." Farrar’s art has been exhibited at galleries around Maine and her What We Carry series was featured in a solo exhibition curated by Nancy Davidson at the Maine Jewish Museum in 2022.
Farrar comes from a family of self-taught artists and designers. She was raised in Farmington, Maine, and is influenced by the natural beauty of her home state, as well as her parents’ New York City backgrounds and her travels around the world. She has art degrees from the University of Maine and Goddard College in Vermont, and she is the president of New England Wax. She lives in Manchester, Maine, with her husband and daughter.
"Yes, because of the love of flowers and blooms I made these. But more, rather as a need for beauty in this world, in this moment because it seems unfair. Beauty is a call to take care of things we love, like each other and the planet and to call upon nature as our highest healing power. And though beauty might seem as an escapist or even indulgent it can also provide a gentler, safer, and expedited agent to the pressured and exhaustive truths we seek to suppress. These blooms and bounties of color and form are to be enjoyed and food for strength in an increasingly pluralized humanity." ~Hélène
